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Sunday Surfing and a Follow-Up on Mars Retrograde

Every day, in relation to whatever I was going to explode about 2 or 3 days ago, I get new information or insight that alters what I would have let play out in that moment and I get to enjoy a moment of thankfulness and relief at sparing myself embarrassment. – weaver

Sunday Surfing 24/04/16

Sunday Surfing posts are inspired by articles that show up on my screen and their obvious nod to the energies at play.

I read a composite presentation by symbolreader that seems to me a perfect rumination on the transits in play; it touches on the ways of the mystic and on authenticity. This segment, in particular, strikes me as a divine invitation:

III. “Below the surface-stream, shallow and light,

Of what we say we feel—below the stream,

As light, of what we think we feel—there flows

With noiseless current strong, obscure and deep,

The central stream of what we feel indeed.”

Matthew Arnold

Next up, a post on mindhacks by Vaughn Bell about the ‘trippy’ experience of moving from consciousness to sleep: ‘(the) hypnagogic state – the brief hallucinatory period between wakefulness and sleep – and how it is being increasingly used as a tool to make sense of consciousness.’

The link therein led me off wandering through The Atlantic…

The Secret Shame of Middle Class Americans by Neal Gabler. My, but this is a wincingly honest self-analysis at how a seemingly successful person would find himself sharing, ‘I know what it is like to have to juggle creditors to make it through a week…I know what it is like to be down to my last $5—literally—while I wait for a paycheck to arrive, and I know what it is like to subsist for days on a diet of eggs. I know what it is like to dread going to the mailbox, because there will always be new bills to pay but seldom a check with which to pay them… And I know what it is like to have to borrow money from my adult daughters because my wife and I ran out of heating oil.

‘You wouldn’t know any of that to look at me. I like to think I appear reasonably prosperous. Nor would you know it to look at my résumé…I am nowhere near rich, but I have typically made a solid middle- or even, at times, upper-middle-class income…And you certainly wouldn’t know it to talk to me, because the last thing I would ever do—until now—is admit to financial insecurity or, as I think of it, “financial impotence,” because it has many of the characteristics of sexual impotence, not least of which is the desperate need to mask it and pretend everything is going swimmingly. In truth, it may be more embarrassing than sexual impotence… America is a country, as Donald Trump has reminded us, of winners and losers, alphas and weaklings. To struggle financially is a source of shame, a daily humiliation—even a form of social suicide. Silence is the only protection.’ This is an excellent exploration into the hows and whys.

Ever wonder about the average American 29 year old? ‘Forget media archetypes of older Millennials as college-educated singles living in cities. The typical 29-year-old is living with a partner in the suburbs—without a bachelor’s degree.’ Read the rest by Derek Thompson.

*****

Feedback and Follow Up on Mars (and Pluto) rx

Its pretty tough out there on the mind/body/spirit these days, I know well. I am hearing about it from clients and friends in a spectrum ranging from a dull aching frustration just under the veneer of daily living or a loss of being passionate about anythingwhatsoever to the full on trauma of a heart attack, the outrage at secrets discovered and deep, deep sadness with no specific trigger.

Hold steady if you can. Find the concrete in whatever form you can, no matter how meager and pause. Even as you feel internal heat rising – or icy-ness descending, remember this: the outcome is not yet revealed. You don’t have all the cards in the deck. This is not the end of a story that is prematurely prompting a reply from you. I think I must say this to myself a hundred times a day. And it’s working. Every day, in relation to whatever I was going to explode about 2 or 3 days ago, I get new information or insight that alters what I would have played out in the moment and I get to enjoy a moment of thankfulness and relief at sparing myself and others pain and/or embarrassment.

Don’t forget, I am marsy. As in, powering my daily affairs, general well being and a large part of my public persona…yikes. But I have foresight and a map and that is worth its weight in alchemic gold. I’ve got strategies. 🙂 I am holding my tongue and letting my brain race ‘til it’s tired and fizzles out. I am eating dried fruits and nuts when I want death by chocolate cake. I am hiking up and down the foothills every single day; I make space in my schedule for physical exertion. I’m not going to let this burst through the seams: I am celebrating how empowering it is to myself and the other when I actively listen: so much more can be said/revealed/developed in the space that I protect for them/from me.

I anticipated possible variations on several themes of Mars and Pluto rx (and potentials of the Venus/Uranus conjunction, stabilized Sun and Mercury) so what has happened *so far* has floored me on one or two fronts but NOT knocked me for a loop. And you know, sometimes that is truly the best that one can hope for. Grace is present even in the chaos, dear reader. And, for all of us, it is quite possible (I would even say probable) that this grace is in close range to the very issue that’s blazing away. And grace illuminates the way by which you can apply healthy power via the mind or body or spirit. Hang in there. I am thinking of you.

For more on this long Mars transit, see this recent post. I have listed some pointers that I think will help us stay on track.